EeBria: Prices falling in the UK amid craft beer revolution

UK craft beer marketplace EeBria says that while craft beer may have a reputation for being expensive, that there is also new evidence that better beer is becoming increasingly affordable.

“With a new brewery opening every two days in 2015, providing increased competition and higher quality beers, the prices of craft beers have begun dropping, which is great news for drinkers”, wrote the firm in a statement.

According to data from EeBria, during the last year session strength beers with an ABV of under 5% have fallen in price by 5% on average. Even those in the 5-9% ABV range now cost an average of 4% less than they did in 2014.

However, this competition has had the opposite effect on beers at the stronger end of the ABV spectrum, as breweries go all out on special one-off or limited run brews.

“With the growth of craft beer has come an increasing appetite for the best new and adventurous beers. To satisfy this breweries continue to push the boundaries, using unusual ingredients and barrel ageing their beers to create stronger, stand out brews.”

Eebria adds that due to the time-consuming and complicated methods for creating these typically stronger beers, they are usually brewed in very short runs, with demand far outstripping supply.

“As more people discover new craft beers, the demand for these most sought after beers is growing rapidly and EeBria has seen an average price rise of 12% for brews over 9% ABV”.

Whilst 2015 has seen a large increase in interest in these beers, such as Yellow Belly Sundae and Good King Henry Special Reserve, the UK hasn’t quite reached the level of the USA, where special beer releases are regularly met with long queues at the brewery, and even people camping overnight to ensure they get a bottle.